


What Happens in Vegas

by Ailelie



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Bittersweet, Definition of home, Family, M/M, Returning from an alternate world, Scenes from, be sure to read through the comments...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 12:20:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3810181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailelie/pseuds/Ailelie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Narnia Problem--What do you do after you spend a life in another world and then return to your own with no time passed? After a retreat into a coatroom in Las Vegas, Tyler and Jamie find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Happens in Vegas

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my roommate for reading through the sections as I wrote them and MORE IMPORTANTLY correcting the harmony on the Binding Song.

“This way,” Tyler said, reaching back to find Jamie’s hand. Anna was going to hate they couldn’t find her ball, but the sun was beginning to set and they could always buy her another.

 

“We’re going the wrong way,” Jamie said, following Tyler through the thicket of trees back to the castle. The branches were getting more difficult to dodge.

 

“Which of us has the better eyes these days?” Tyler grinned over his shoulder and promptly tripped.

 

Falling took a long time. The moment happened in staccato slices, too fast and too slow all at once. When he hit the ground, Tyler first noticed the lack of dirt under his hands. Instead it was a rough cloth, like a cheap rug. _Carpet_ , he thought. Then he looked up.

 

He remembered this room. He’d reconstructed it in his head so many times afterward--the suit jackets overflowing their hangers, the slips of paper piled in the shuttered window of the room, and the cubby holes with purses and hats and other items stored safely away. The familiarity was dizzying.

 

“I must have hit my head--” Tyler said, standing and turning to check on Jamie. Tyler grabbed at some of the hanging jackets and held himself upright. Lines Tyler had watched fold and furrow their way onto Jamie’s cheeks over the years were smoothed away. The cloudiness that had started overtaking his right eye years ago was clear. Silver and gray Tyler had teased him over repeatedly until his own curls had started to turn was again uniformly dark and brown.

 

“We’re back,” Jamie said.

 

Laughter, loose and wild, spiralled out of Tyler. “Of course we are,” he said. “Now, long after I’d stopped--”

 

Jamie stepped forward and pulled Tyler into a tight hug. “We managed before,” he said. “We can do this again. We’re not alone this time.”

 

“My mom. I should write her. Call her.” Tyler pulled from the embrace although he did not step away, his hands--young hands; god, he really was in his 20s again--still rested on Jamie’s arms. “We have cell phones again.”

 

“And hockey,” Jamie said. His mouth tilted. “I should find Jordie. This is the awards ceremony, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Tyler said. “We came in here because you wanted to get away from all the people for a moment.” He looked back to his hands which were rubbing Jamie’s arms slowly. “What are we going to do?”

 

“Hey.” Jamie tilted Tyler’s face upward. “We’re still us.”

 

Tyler curled one hand up behind Jamie’s head and pulled him in for a kiss. The kiss was an anchor. This world or the other, they still had this. “We’re still us,” he agreed, breaking the kiss.

 

Jamie rested his forehead against Tyler’s and breathed in slow. “Ready?”

 

“No,” Tyler said. “But let’s go anyway.”

 

_“You’re not going.”_

_Tyler didn’t pause in packing his saddle bags. “The provinces need our help. Sixteen dead by the last count.”_

_“It’s a plague, Tyler,” Jamie said, grabbing Tyler’s hands. “Not something you can fight.”_

_Tyler shook out of Jamie’s grasp. “I can help enforce a quarantine and get the living somewhere safe.”_

_“Look, I’m sorry, all right? If I’d known kissing you was going to send you off on some suicidal mission, I never would have done it.”_

_Tyler threw down his tackle. “Don’t you get it?” he demanded. “We’re stuck here. We’ve been over every inch of that damn forest and there’s no way back home. This is all we get.” He sighed and leaned against the stable wall. “We’ve lost everything.”_

_“No,” Jamie said, crossing to Tyler. “We still have us. We’re the same.”_

_Tyler chuckled. “We fought in a war, Jamie. You’re their King of Stars.”_

_Jamie shook his head. “We’re still us,” he insisted. Tyler’s eyes shut as Jamie leaned in to press a hesitant kiss to his lips._

_“I still have to go,” Tyler said._

_“Vulric can--”_

_Tyler pushed Jamie away. “Vulric is an incompetent asshole who’d probably kill everyone in the name of keeping the rest of the kingdom safe. We are not sending Vulric.”_

_“Fine,” Jamie said. “Go then. Just--” he reached out and grabbed Tyler’s wrist “--come back, okay?”_

_Tyler rolled his eyes and tugged his wrist, pulling Jamie forward. He caught him in a kiss, deep like the one the week before. “Of course,” he promised. “We stick together, right?”_

_Jamie sighed, his face softening with relief. “Always.”_

 

“We lived there longer than we’ve lived here.”

 

Jamie checked the time and swore. “It’s three am.”

 

“Shit,” Tyler said. “Sorry. I just got up to swim.”

 

A smile flickered over Jamie’s lips. Predawn exercise had been their time in the other world. No matter what else was happening, they exercised together and talked. Lately, swimming had been their activity of choice. “It’s fine,” Jamie said, yawning. “Not been sleeping too well anyway.”

 

“Bed’s too big?” Tyler asked, knowingly.

 

“And too soft,” Jamie confirmed. “I keep expecting to get used to it, but sleep is still shit.”

 

“Same. And that’s when I realized that we lived there longer than we’ve lived here. Almost double.”

 

Jamie sat up in his bed and rubbed at his legs absently, even though the stiffness had not yet set in. “We were old.”

 

“You were,” Tyler said; Jamie could hear his smile. “Think they’ll be able to fix your eyes here when they start going cloudy?”

 

Jamie arched, popping his back, and fell back against his bed. “Probably. Medicine is a lot better.”

 

“And the food,” Tyler said. “No more stag. Or rabbit. I hated rabbit.”

 

“Maybe we should keep a list,” Jamie said. “Reasons we’re glad to be back.”

 

“Hockey,” Tyler said. “Put that at the top. Our parents. My sisters. Your sister. Jordie.” Tyler continued listing reasons to be thankful, many of which were specific foods he had missed.

 

“Are we still going to do this?” Jamie asked. “In Dallas.”

 

“Why wouldn’t we?” Tyler asked. “We always talk in the morning.”

 

“We didn’t before.”

 

“We do now. Jaim, what’s going on?”

 

Jamie closed his eyes. “How much are we going to keep? We’re not-- we never--”

 

“Stop,” Tyler said, his commander voice edged the word. “How much are we going to keep? Of us? _Take from me and bind with thine--my hearth, my blood, my heart, my time._ We’re still us. Even if no one else knows it.” Command bled into pleading as Tyler spoke.

 

“I miss you,” Jamie said. “I need you so I don’t--I can’t stop thinking the worst.”

 

“Next week,” Tyler promised. “I’ll buy a plane ticket as soon as I’m back home.”

 

“But your family.”

 

“Will still be there. Remember our list; they’re here in this world. I can see them anytime. You’re my family, too. You and--” he stopped speaking. Jamie could hear his breath shake as he inhaled.

 

“They go on our other list,” Jamie said quietly. “Our reasons to go back.”

 

“We’re not going back.”

 

“You’ve said that before. And here we are.” In the silent house, the ticking of the kitchen clock was inescapable.

 

“Do you want to go back?” Tyler asked. “If we could?”

 

“I don’t know,” Jamie admitted. “I honestly have no clue.”

 

_Tyler was stretching out by the stables when Jamie found him. A lantern bobbed in Jamie’s hands as he navigated the path to their starting point. Tyler ignored him and continued stretching. Condensation soaked the tops of his shoes and ankles and the early chill pricked at his arms._

_“You’re here,” Jamie said, stupidly. He hung his lantern up by Tyler’s._

_“I need the run,” Tyler said. He waited for Jamie to stretch. When he had, they started off together, but didn’t talk. Tyler noticed some construction near the practice grounds and opened his mouth to ask Jamie about it, but then remembered Jamie’s expression when he’d said he was keeping Elleyne and his mouth snapped shut._

_The sky was a deep lavender when Jamie asked, “How is she?”_

_“Still sad,” Tyler said, startled by the question. “Some nightmares, too.”_

_Jamie nodded and then, speeding up, got in front of Tyler and stopped him. The sky was beginning to pink and Tyler could see the castle waking up across the lake. “Don’t hate me,” Jamie said, “but why? Because I’ve been trying to understand and I don’t.”_

_Tyler thought about going through the village full of death and then seeing Elleyne twitch in her sleep and realizing she was still alive. He’d carried her to the quarantine camp himself, even though doing so meant he’d had to stay within the camp’s borders for a month while they ensured he wasn’t ill. Elleyne had clung to him in the camp and panicked anytime he coughed. But she’d also laughed at the stories he’d made up for her and begged to learn how to use a bow. When she’d asked what was going to happen to her after the camp, Tyler couldn’t imagine anything other than taking her home._

_“I never wanted to go to Dallas,” Tyler said._

_Jamie gave him a weird look. “I know.”_

_“But once I was there and accepted that I wasn’t going back, I was all in.”_

_“You’re all in,” Jamie said._

_“Yeah,” Tyler said. “We’ve bonded, Elly and I. I promised her I was going to stick around.”_

_“We’re building a dorm by the practice fields,” Jamie said. “For anyone who wants to learn.”_

_“Lords aren’t happy?” Tyler guessed._

_Jamie laughed. “Lords are furious. But, I thought about what you said before you left. You’re right. We’re here now. We might never be going back.”_

_“So you’re finally starting up your sword school.”_

_“And you suddenly have a daughter.”_

_“Yeah,” Tyler said. He blew out a long breath. “Is that going to be a problem? With us?” The whole being attracted to his male best friend thing had been a bit of a surprise, but Tyler still wanted to see where it lead._

_“Nah,” Jamie said, his cheeks growing pink. “The dad thing is actually kinda hot.”_

_“Really?” Tyler asked, a sly grin growing across his lips._

_Jamie groaned. “I’m going to regret saying that, aren’t I?”_

_Tyler stepped in and popped a kiss against Jamie’s cheek. “Depends.”_

_Jamie grabbed him before he could step back and pulled him in for something deeper and rougher. This was the kiss they should have had when Tyler had finally returned from the provinces. This was only their third kiss, or fourth, but it promised more. When the kiss broke, Tyler was breathing hard._

_“We should head back,” Tyler said._

_“Yeah,” Jamie said, quieter._

_“And do that more often,” he added._

_This brought a small smile to Jamie’s lips. “Yeah?”_

_“Yeah.”_

 

Tyler spent the airplane ride to Jamie’s converting years, months, and days into seconds. Minutes and days had worked differently there, but he figured a second didn’t change. He copied the formulae for making the conversions and eventually calculated their anniversary.

 

He decided he didn’t have to wait until then to give Jamie the ring he’d bought, the one engraved _Still us_ inside the band.

 

When Tyler rang the doorbell, Jamie greeted him with a marrow-warming, breath-squeezing hug that lasted until Jordie coughed pointedly from behind Jamie. They released each other reluctantly and Tyler could see the questions forming in Jordie’s mind.

 

Tyler set his alarm that night and the next morning, about a half hour to sunrise, he met Jamie on his doorstep. Normally they’d go running or swimming or sparring, but Tyler was barefoot and he’d brought the ring.

 

“You won’t believe the math I’ve done,” Tyler said. “Did you know there are over 31,000,000 seconds in a year?”

 

“Why do you know that?” Jamie asked.

 

“I figured it out,” Tyler said. “When our anniversary is.” He handed Jamie the ring box. “February 16th, but just barely. It still matters to me.”

 

Jamie took the ring, smiled at the inscription inside, and slid it on his finger. They would need to get a chain later, but Tyler loved seeing his ring once again on Jamie’s finger. “It matters to me, too,” Jamie said.

 

They watched the sun rise from the front steps.

 

Tyler saw Jordie notice the ring over breakfast and intercepted him before he could confront Jamie. Jordie glanced over Tyler’s shoulder, jaw clenched, and then back at Tyler. “Did you buy my brother a ring?” Jordie asked. “Because that’s a whole new level of weird, even for you two.”

 

Tyler stepped forward and herded Jordie upstairs to his bedroom. “You’re not going to believe me,” he said, “but there’s something you have to know.”

 

Tyler told him about hiding in the coat room so that Jamie could escape the crowds for a moment and accidentally finding their way into another world frozen by war. He described learning how to fight, falling in love, and getting old. He stood against the bedroom door so Jordie couldn’t leave and made him listen.

 

“I don’t care if you believe me,” he said, weary, “but I can’t leave Jamie alone here again. He needs you.” The door’s border pushed uncomfortably against his back.

 

Jordie sat on the edge of his bed, his elbows sagged against his knees. “He’s wearing the ring you bought him.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Jordie closed his eyes, breathed, and gave in. “Fine. You’re right. I don’t believe you, but I do trust that you wouldn’t spend that much cash on a joke and that Jamie wouldn’t go along with it for no reason. So I still think this is some weird prank, but I’ll pretend to believe you until I figure out the punchline.”

 

“Thanks, man.”

 

Jordie shook his head. “Shit.”

 

_“You and Papa are bound now,” Elleyne said matter-of-factly from her bed. Thick blankets rose up around her and she sat back against her pillow as though she were on a throne. She had grown far past the clinging moppet he remembered glaring at him from behind Tyler’s legs._

_“I am,” Jamie said._

_“Does that make you my papa, too?” Elleyne asked._

_Jamie sat down on the edge of her bed. “If you want me to be.”_

_Elleyne tilted her head to the side and bit her lip. “No,” she decided. “I have a good papa already. And my daddy is dead.”_

_Jamie winced. “I know.” He rubbed his hand over the thick, topmost quilt. “You don’t have to call me anything special. I can stay Jamie.”_

_Elleyne bit her lip again and then reached across her bed for a stuffed catfish. Elleyne curled one of her fingers in the catfish’s whiskers. “You gave me Ollie.”_

_“You told me you didn’t like bears,” Jamie said. “Or dolls.”_

_“I don’t.” Elleyne sighed, her shoulders reaching up to her ears and falling faster than her breath. “Papa calls you Jaim sometimes.”_

_“Do you want to call me Jaim?” Jamie asked, hoping she would say ‘no.’_

_Elleyne shook her head. “No. That’s Papa’s. I don’t know.”_

_Jamie squeezed her knee through her blankets. “Elleyne, it’s fine. Really.”_

_“No, it isn’t.” The hard look in her eyes was one Jamie recognized all too well. Elleyne had gotten fixed on this and now nothing would soothe or shift her until she had a solution._

_“All right,” Jamie said. “Let’s brainstorm.”_

_“Brainstorm,” Elleyne repeated, wrinkling her nose._

_“Share ideas,” Jamie said. “Any idea. Nothing’s too stupid. Like, what about Father?” The word felt weird in his mouth._

_Elleyne laughed._

_“Da?”_

_She shook her head. “Oatmeal,” she said, giggling._

_“Oatmeal?” Jamie repeated. “Like your horse?”_

_“Toast!”_

_Jamie rolled his eyes. “Really?” He leaned over and started tickling Elleyne. “I think you’re just being silly now.”_

_Elleyne writhed away from him. “Jam!” she shouted. And then stopped. She grabbed Jamie’s hands. “Jam,” she repeated. “Like Jaim, but different.”_

_“Jam.” Jamie pulled his hands from her stomach and moved a lock of hair off her forehead. “I could live with Jam.”_

_Elleyne grinned. “Goodnight, Jam,” she said._

_Jamie helped her settle down in her bed and kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, Elleyne.”_

 

Tyler was quiet on the ice. He skated fine, muscle memory compensating for the decades without ice-skating (save for that one trip west, a memory Jamie would savor until he died), but Jamie could see the distraction in the twist of his lip and the weakness of his shot.

 

After practice, he made excuses for Tyler, breaking plans with Val, and herded him home. “What’s wrong?” Jamie asked as they stood on the back deck of their home, watching the dogs run about the yard.

 

“It’s Anna’s birthday,” Tyler said.

 

Jamie sagged back against the door jamb. “Oh.”

 

“Nine years old.” Tyler rubbed his palm over his face, a broken smile pulling his lips. “Is she even born yet? Will she ever be born? And Elleyne. God.” He sat down on one of their deck chairs, his elbows pushing down his knees and his fingers laced behind his neck.

 

Jamie moved forward, next to him, and rubbed his back. “She exists,” he said. “They both do. They have to.”

 

“She was going to demand music lessons,” Tyler said.

 

Jamie groaned. “That damn harp, I know.” The harp and its musician had been a wedding gift. Jamie had tried repeatedly to let the young man leave, appalled at being given a person as a gift, but the man refused, eventually accepting a salary. The harpist had been talented, but his music still haunted Jamie’s dreams and set his teeth on edge.

 

Tyler laughed, looking up. “Add that to our list of reasons to be glad we’re back. Think Elleyne will let her have the lessons?”

 

“As long as it doesn’t interfere with her archery practice,” Jamie said. “You two and your arrows.”

 

Tyler leaned against Jamie. “Is it weird that I miss archery?”

 

“I miss my sword,” Jamie admitted. “Has Jordie told you about the time he caught me running through my shadow practice with my hockey stick?”

 

Tyler’s body shook with laughter against Jamie’s side. “God. What a pair we are. Never happy.”

 

Marshall and Cash started rolling around with each other in the yard, playfighting. “I miss good night stories,” Jamie said. “Anna loved my good night stories.”

 

“Yeah,” Tyler said. “ _No, Grandpa, I want Grim to tuck me in_.” He mimicked Anna’s high-pitch. “God, I miss her. And Elleyne.”

 

Jamie squeezed Tyler tight into his side. “I’ve been making a list of everything I wish I’d told her,” he said. “About being in charge.”

 

“I wanted to be there for her,” Tyler said. “I promised her. This isn’t fair.” He stood up and started pacing. “We get ripped from our lives and thrown into some bullshit medieval-like world where we win a stupid war and have to lead a country and we build lives there. And get old. And have a family. And then we get ripped away from that life and thrust back here where nothing even makes sense anymore. It’s bullshit.”

 

Marshall nudged at Tyler’s legs and he bent down, scratching the dog’s ears and rubbing his cheek against his fur. “Thanks, bud,” he said.

 

“What do you want to do?” Jamie asked.

 

“I can’t pretend I’m still the same guy anymore,” Tyler said. “I miss fighting for something and having it _matter_. I miss teaching kids how to use a bow and arrow and going riding. I even miss Cal’s endless harping.” He stood again, Marshall still pressed against his legs. “I don’t want to leave here, but I also want to go back. I miss knowing what home is.”

 

“Let’s buy a cake,” Jamie said. Tyler looked at him, brows askew. “For Anna. We’ll invite Jordie over and we’ll celebrate and maybe tell him about our granddaughter. And we’ll find you an archery range and me a sword.” He stood and tugged Tyler to him. “And we’ll figure things out. You and me.”

 

“Deal,” Tyler said, leaning forward and resting into a hug.

 

Jamie rubbed one hand up and down Tyler’s spine. Somehow, they were going to be okay.

 

_Family members, friends, and loyal guests stood in circles like ripples around Elleyne, Yardin, and the priestess, surrounding them with love and community. From the side, Tyler could see the flowers, some a bit bruised, braided into Elleyne’s hair._

_The priestess tied  long strings around Elleyne and Yardin’s waists, giving each their loose end. In concert, they spoke their vows and wrapped their strings in figure eights around their wrists. When they were bound, the priestess tied the loose ends together, singing the vows. One by one, each ring around the couple joined in until the words echoed off the stars._

_Take from me and bind with thine: my hearth, my blood, my heart, my time._

_Tyler reached for Jaime’s hand as they sang, remembering what it had felt like to stand amidst the sound on their own wedding day._

_The priestess raised her hands and the chorus dropped away._

_“Be bound and wed and seal your commitment to each other with a kiss.”_

_Tyler watched his daughter kiss her husband and remembered watching her grow up._

_Tyler had helped Elleyne string her first bow. She’d grunted with frustration as she’d pushed down on the top of the bow and tried to slide the string up, refusing all offers of help. When she’d perfected her accuracy again and again at growing distances, Tyler hadn’t been able to mask his pride. He was still so proud of her._

_When she had nightmares, he cuddled up with her and reminded her she wasn’t alone. He told her that he had nightmares too, but that they had each other now. He promised to keep her safe if she promised the same for him. This would usually coax a smile or an eyeroll from Elleyne, but she’d always promised in the end._

_Once she’d realized she would one day become Queen, she had begged lessons from Jamie and accompanied the guards on patrols around the capital city._

_She’d met Yardin in the market on one of these patrols. He was a merchant’s son and math genius who did not back down from a debate._

_“I can push back against him, Papa,” Elleyne had confided to Tyler one night, “and trust he won’t fall. He doesn’t lie to me.”_

_The priestess clapped her hands and the circles broke, creating a path outward. “Go together into your new life.”_

_Elleyne and Yardin walked out of the circle._

_“You’re crying,” Jamie noted, rubbing his thumb under one of Tyler’s eyes._

_“Shut up,” Tyler said._

_His heart was too full of memories, pride, joy, and sadness for him to process._

_Elleyne had blushed, her cheeks pinking like morning clouds, the first time she had mentioned Yardin’s name._

_In the quarantine, she had pressed hot against his legs, her hair matted with sweat, and cried, her breath still stinking of vomit. He’d stroked her hair, wiped her mouth, and promised she’d never be alone again._

_Elleyne and Yardin had plans for the marketplace. They bickered and bickered and then would suddenly start talking in excited half-sentences building each other’s ideas up._

_When Elleyne had come to Tyler with her ribbons and said she wanted her fathers to do her binding braids rather than a maid, he had spent hours in the stables, practicing braids with his horse. He and Jamie had braided every flower, battered and pristine, into her hair._

_He’d kissed her on the forehead after they’d finished her braids. He always kissed her on the forehead--hello, good night, good luck, and goodbye._

_Around them, the circles dispersed and followed after the bound couple to celebrate with a feast. Jamie tugged Tyler’s hand and pulled him toward the castle, their daughter, and son-in-law._

 

Jamie commanded the room. He spoke quietly, but the noise lowered to accommodate him. When he’d done that on the battlefield, quieting the clang of swords and armor, the chatter of men and women among each other and to their horse, is when, Tyler believed, the moment their faction had decided to make Jamie King.

 

They had entered that world as useless as babies. Tyler made friends easily and sussed out the myriad sides to the war some of the fighters had called endless, but Jamie could convince an entire camp to follow him.

 

And now the locker room watched him in awe. They saw their shy captain; Tyler saw his liege--a man people believed in and died for. Tyler had found Jamie among the pyres and kept silent vigil with him over every life lost. The weight of those lives still hung in Jamie’s heart and helped his words drop like stones, giant flagstones paving a path through hell.

 

Tyler watched the room. Tension eased from shoulders, nervous gestures stilled, and chins and chests rose slightly, because Jamie Benn was a damn inspiration.

 

After Jamie finished speaking, Tyler was the first to move. He sought out one of the rookies and chatted with him about being in the NHL. Then he sat down by Trevor Daley and talked chances. Jamie led the troops and Tyler learned the camp. He gathered the information Jamie needed to know about relationships, goals, and frustrations.

 

Sometimes Tyler liked to believe that their falling in love had always been inevitable, that they matched up too well between strength and weakness to ever end up any other way.

 

After the game, after their win in overtime, Tyler took Jamie home, spread him out across their bed, and took him apart.

 

“God, I love you so damn much,” he muttered hotly against Jamie’s neck and Jamie’s chest rumbled against him with laughter.

 

He liked being reckless together. They’d wasted so much time before, but now they were young again. They didn’t have to be careful.

 

Jamie sucked a mark against Tyler’s ribs and Tyler’s hands tightened in his hair. They were going to get questions about this, but Tyler didn’t care, didn’t care, didn’t care.

 

“ _So. Damn. Much_ ,” he repeated, pulling Jamie up to his lips. Their dicks slid against each other, hard again, and Jamie panted in his mouth.

 

“You too,” Jamie said between feverish kisses. “You too.” His ring dangled off his neck and dragged over Tyler’s collarbone.

 

Tyler reached down between them, grasped them together. Jamie was still slick with spit from the earlier blowjob. Tyler loved, loved, loved being young again. He rubbed his hand over their cocks, a little hard, and Jamie groaned against his neck, biting when he moved faster. Another mark for them to explain. God, Tyler wanted to explain. He wanted the stares at every mark they made on each other, every promise and bit of lust they pressed, scratched, bit, and sucked into each other’s skin.

 

Warmth exploded over his hand as he came and Jamie soon after. They breathed harshly together, still pressed together, still messy as hell. And it was a hell of a time to recite a wedding vow, but Tyler couldn’t resist.

 

“Take from me and bind with thine,” he said, lifting his come-covered hand to his mouth and running his tongue over his thumb, “my hearth, my blood, my heart, my time.”

 

Jamie laughed at him and kissed the salt off his lips.

 

_They could deny their granddaughter nothing. From the first time Jamie held Anna in his arms, he’d known that he would destroy the world to keep her safe. “You spoil her too much,” Elleyne protested._

_“Grandfather’s privilege,” Jamie said. “She deserves a little spoiling.”_

_“A little?” The raised brows and barely suppressed amusement were all Tyler. Elleyne was too much like her father, blood or no._

_“She’s a princess,” Jamie said._

_Elleyne laughed. “You and Papa both taught me better than that.”_

_“Grim?” Anna swung her head into the room, her hands holding tight to the doorframe. Elleyne leaned back in her chair, her lips in a smug line as Jamie stood so Anna could see him better._

_“Yes, Anna?”_

_Anna’s face split open with a quick smile that she quickly schooled back into concern. “I can’t find my ball,” she said. “The one Grandpa got me with the roses on it.”_

_“Where did you have it last?” Jamie asked, crouching down beside Anna._

_Anna looked over his shoulder and Jamie followed her gaze to see Elleyne approaching. “Outside,” Anna stage-whispered._

_“Anna,” Elleyne said, her voice heavy with disappointment. “I told you to bring it back inside.”_

_“I know, Mama,” Anna said, “but I forgot and now Daddy says it is going to rain and my ball is going to get all wet and ruined!”_

_“It isn’t going to rain,” Jamie said. His hip, unfortunately, was a very accurate barometer._

_“But later it will,” Anna insisted. She pushed out her bottom lip. “I think it rolled into the trees and Daddy won’t let me go get it.”_

_“Did you throw your ball into the trees?” Elleyne asked._

_“No. It just got there by itself.”_

_“Anna--”_

_“Don’t worry, Anna,” Jamie said, standing up with a wince. “Your grandpa and I will find it for you.”_

_“Jam, you really don’t have to do that,” Elleyne said, touching his forearm._

_Jamie smiled at her and ruffled Anna’s hair. “It’s no problem,” he said. “I’d been wanting a good excuse for a walk anyway. Anna here is just helping me out.”_

_Elleyne just shook her head and mouthed, ‘Spoiled.’ Then, bending down, she pulled Anna up into her arms. “What do you say to your grim?” she asked._

_Anna leaned over and kissed Jamie on the cheek. “Thank you, Grim, for looking for my ball.”_

_“You’re welcome, Anna.”_

_“Come on, Anna,” Elleyne said, carrying Anna out of the room and down the hall. “Why don’t we go draw a picture for your grandparents to thank them for helping you?”_

_“All right, Mama.”_

_Jamie grinned and turned the other way down the hall to find Tyler and let him know he’d been volunteered to help find Anna’s ball. He knew Tyler wouldn’t mind._

 

On a rainy Tuesday in February, Tyler and Jamie gathered their families into their living room and pledged, again, to share their lives. Only Jordie knew the truth of their relationship, but their parents had been more understanding than Jamie had expected.

 

He and Tyler did not sign a license, not in Texas, but they did exchange rings. After that, it was just a matter of waiting for the question.

 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Jamie asked that night, hooking a finger through the ring Tyler wore on a chain around his neck.

 

“Someone has to be first, right?” Tyler said. “Who better than us? Like anything they throw at us will be worse than--” he trailed off with a shrug.

 

“You just want a fight,” Jamie said.

 

Tyler laughed in self-deprecation. “Yeah. So do you. But that’s not why--”

 

“I know,” Jamie interrupted. “I love you.”

 

“I love you, too,” Tyler said.

 

In Jamie’s favorite wedding photo, Tyler is leaning back against Jamie in front of a rain-streaked window, the dogs at their feet. On a tall and darkly polished table beside them sits a bouquet of arrows and pink roses for Elleyne and Anna.

 

Jamie played with the two rings dangling from his own chain, his fingers running over the identical inscriptions in each.

 

_Still us._

 

Tyler was right. They could handle whatever came.

 

After all, they already had.

\---

**Author's Note:**

> [Binding Song sheet music](https://flic.kr/p/shsZRv)  
>  [Audio](https://www.dropbox.com/s/687sp98d6iexgef/Binding_Song.wav?dl=0)


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